French Connection is to close eight further stores in the UK amid the ongoing upheaval on the UK high street.
Chairman and chief executive Stephen Marks said although the business benefited from a reduction in shops over the past year, it still suffered a 7% reduction in like-for-like sales.
“We continue to review our retail portfolio and expect eight stores to close this year, with two having already closed in the first half.
“In addition, given the continued deterioration of trading conditions on the UK high street, we have reviewed the underlying lease contracts of a number of loss-making stores that we are actively looking to exit but are currently unable to and have made a one-off provision for the onerous nature of those contracts.”
In its interim results for the six months to the end of July, retail revenues of £27.3m were 10.5% lower than the year before, while underlying retail losses fell by £0.5m to £7.2m.
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